Kimberley Visions: rock art style provinces in northern Australia. This project aims to examine the role that art has played in managing social and environmental change over the past 50 000 years. The project seeks to carry out the first systematic comparative analysis of different rock art repertoires and associated archaeology from the Kimberley and Arnhem Land. It is intended that identifying continuities and changes in this archaeological signature will provide direct evidence of how people ....Kimberley Visions: rock art style provinces in northern Australia. This project aims to examine the role that art has played in managing social and environmental change over the past 50 000 years. The project seeks to carry out the first systematic comparative analysis of different rock art repertoires and associated archaeology from the Kimberley and Arnhem Land. It is intended that identifying continuities and changes in this archaeological signature will provide direct evidence of how people adapted and signalled their identity. Intended outcomes are new understanding to contribute to inter-regional rock art studies and inform Indigenous and government heritage management practices.Read moreRead less
Kiacatoo Man: biology, archaeology and environment at the Last Glacial Maximum. What were the origins of the first Australians, and how have they changed through time? This project will focus on the riverine environment, archaeology and human biology of 'Kiacatoo Man', ancient remains that were excavated last year from glacial-age sands of the southern Murray-Darling Basin.
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE150101597
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$371,607.00
Summary
50,000 years of human subsistence behaviour in northern Australia. For over 40 years, archaeologists have debated the nature of the initial colonisation of Australia and how people subsequently coped with large-scale climate change. This is the first study to examine systematically variation in human subsistence behaviour and animal community structure across northern Australia. Through analyses of archaeofaunas from key archaeological sites, this project aims to test assumptions about why and h ....50,000 years of human subsistence behaviour in northern Australia. For over 40 years, archaeologists have debated the nature of the initial colonisation of Australia and how people subsequently coped with large-scale climate change. This is the first study to examine systematically variation in human subsistence behaviour and animal community structure across northern Australia. Through analyses of archaeofaunas from key archaeological sites, this project aims to test assumptions about why and how northern Australia was first occupied and the manner in which people responded to dramatic environmental shifts. An additional outcome of this project, it is hoped, will be insight into the causes of fragmentation in Australian fauna assemblages and in particular, the recognition of carnivore damage.Read moreRead less
Aboriginal Sandstone quarries, exchange and the history of seedgrinding in Australia. Exchange networks, developed from a complex series of interactions between Aboriginal groups, have permitted the movement of goods, ceremonies and stories across the Australian landscape. Examination of the evolution and development of exchange will be undertaken through the study of sandstone quarries and the grinding stones that were derived from these places. The interdisciplinary approach involves geologi ....Aboriginal Sandstone quarries, exchange and the history of seedgrinding in Australia. Exchange networks, developed from a complex series of interactions between Aboriginal groups, have permitted the movement of goods, ceremonies and stories across the Australian landscape. Examination of the evolution and development of exchange will be undertaken through the study of sandstone quarries and the grinding stones that were derived from these places. The interdisciplinary approach involves geological characterisation of the sandstones and the grinding stones coupled with an archaeological investigation of production and use. The results of this study will provide a picture of the antiquity of exchange networks in an economic and social context.Read moreRead less
Toxic Harvest: The antiquity of rainforest Aboriginal occupation and toxic plant use in long-term subsistence patterns. The project aims to investigate the antiquity of human occupation of Australian tropical rainforests and the role that toxic plants played in the adaptation process. International research suggests that people only permanently occupied rainforests in the last 5,000 years with access to agriculture. The fact that Australian rainforest Aborigines were hunter-gatherers using speci ....Toxic Harvest: The antiquity of rainforest Aboriginal occupation and toxic plant use in long-term subsistence patterns. The project aims to investigate the antiquity of human occupation of Australian tropical rainforests and the role that toxic plants played in the adaptation process. International research suggests that people only permanently occupied rainforests in the last 5,000 years with access to agriculture. The fact that Australian rainforest Aborigines were hunter-gatherers using specialised processing technology to exploit toxic plant foods and living at high population densities suggests a more complex situation. Outcomes include contribution to international debates on the origin and antiquity of human rainforest settlement, an understanding of the biological properties of rainforest plants and development of research partnerships with Indigenous communities.Read moreRead less
Discovery Early Career Researcher Award - Grant ID: DE210100536
Funder
Australian Research Council
Funding Amount
$446,362.00
Summary
The Earliest Australians' Adaptations across Western Australia. This project aims to investigate how the first people to arrive in Australia responded and adapted to diverse environments and changing ecosystems. This project will analyse microscopic remains of human activity from eight key sites in Western Australia, dated between 50,000 and 7,000 years ago. This will generate new evidence on the earliest technology, ecology and landscape management, in relation to environmental changes since th ....The Earliest Australians' Adaptations across Western Australia. This project aims to investigate how the first people to arrive in Australia responded and adapted to diverse environments and changing ecosystems. This project will analyse microscopic remains of human activity from eight key sites in Western Australia, dated between 50,000 and 7,000 years ago. This will generate new evidence on the earliest technology, ecology and landscape management, in relation to environmental changes since the last Ice Age. New understandings on the earliest ecological behaviour and adaptations to diverse ecosystems will be generated through international collaboration, with important outcomes for Australian archaeology and advancing Traditional Owners' engagement in this scientific study of their deep-time heritage.Read moreRead less
Life ways of the first Australians. The project will enhance national cultural heritage assessment and management in the west Kimberley. This is a Australian Government priority because of planned Liquid Natural Gas and other developments in this region. Through the project officer positions, Indigenous communities will gain training and skills that will lead to sustainable livelihoods in cultural tourism or employment opportunities in government cultural heritage agencies. The project directly ....Life ways of the first Australians. The project will enhance national cultural heritage assessment and management in the west Kimberley. This is a Australian Government priority because of planned Liquid Natural Gas and other developments in this region. Through the project officer positions, Indigenous communities will gain training and skills that will lead to sustainable livelihoods in cultural tourism or employment opportunities in government cultural heritage agencies. The project directly addresses the National Research Priority goal of responding to climate change and variability by advancing knowledge and understanding of past climates, and assisting in better modelling of future climate change in our region. The project will provide postgraduate training in fieldwork and analysis for four APAIs.Read moreRead less
Late Pleistocene faunal change and the formation of fossil deposits: a taphonomic approach. New insights into the relationships between environment, animal communities and humans are the key to understanding faunal extinctions from the prehistoric past to the modern day. Using taphonomic and environmental evidence, three prehistoric sites from across Australia will be examined to document faunal succession and the factors contributing to the formation of fossil deposits in each location. The ou ....Late Pleistocene faunal change and the formation of fossil deposits: a taphonomic approach. New insights into the relationships between environment, animal communities and humans are the key to understanding faunal extinctions from the prehistoric past to the modern day. Using taphonomic and environmental evidence, three prehistoric sites from across Australia will be examined to document faunal succession and the factors contributing to the formation of fossil deposits in each location. The outcomes include a clearer understanding of the dynamics of fauna, people and climate during a critical period in Australian prehistory as well as providing new evidence against which the current explanatory models of human impacts and climate change may be tested.Read moreRead less
Earth mounds in Northern Australia: archaeological and environmental archives of the mid to late holocene. Earth mounds, created and occupied by humans, are a common feature of Australia's northern coastal plains. They can offer unique insights into the formation of this recent landscape, and shed light on climatic and environmental change, and human/environmental interaction. This study will provide important new data for climate change models.
Landscape archaeology at Lake Mungo. The southern tip of the Mungo lunette is an icon of Australia's Indigenous past. Despite its international significance, the archaeological traces have disintegrated as the lunette has eroded over the past 30 years. In this interdisciplinary project, collaboration with Elders from the Willandra Lakes Region World Heritage Area is expected to reconstruct the history of environmental changes and the life-ways of the first humans to settle this region. The focus ....Landscape archaeology at Lake Mungo. The southern tip of the Mungo lunette is an icon of Australia's Indigenous past. Despite its international significance, the archaeological traces have disintegrated as the lunette has eroded over the past 30 years. In this interdisciplinary project, collaboration with Elders from the Willandra Lakes Region World Heritage Area is expected to reconstruct the history of environmental changes and the life-ways of the first humans to settle this region. The focus will be on stitching together the archaeological traces scattered through space and time, and on measuring processes of modern sediment erosion and deposition so as to develop management strategies for the future protection of this unique archive of Australia's past.Read moreRead less